The following includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention(s). It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art, or material, to the presently described or claimed inventions, or that any publication or document that is specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of accessories for travelers and more specifically relates to an accessory for restraining the head of a passenger for use when traveling on an airplane, train, or other vehicle. The present invention will keep the user's head in a comfortable vertical position for optimal vertebrae alignment when they are sleeping in an upright seated position.
2. Description of the Related Art
Flying makes travel to faraway destinations more manageable, but this quick method comes with some drawbacks. While sleeping may be the preferred way to pass the time on an airplane trip, the passenger seats today are small and cramped, making it almost impossible to sleep comfortably. Travelers often make use of U-shaped travel pillows to try and stabilize the head and neck for sleeping in an upright position. When a person does manage to drop off to sleep, invariably their head falls forward or from side to side, triggering a vestibular response and awakening the sleeping passenger. Travelers sometimes try to use head restraints as well, but with these devices, the neck is not sufficiently supported and the spine can become out of alignment.
Although the commonly used U-shaped travel pillows and head restraints that some passengers carry help to some extent, they cannot keep the head and neck truly immobilized and in proper alignment to prevent the vestibular response that is triggered when the head of an upright passenger falls forward or side to side and awakens the sleeping passenger. This vestibular response is not triggered when a person is lying down but comes into play when a person tries to sleep when sitting in an upright position. Therefore, the passenger who wants to get forty winks while traveling on an airplane has a very hard time staying asleep in a comfortable position.
Various attempts have been made to solve the above-mentioned problems such as those found in U.S. Pat. No. 8,287,045 to Donohue et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 6,607,245 to Scher. This art is representative of accessories for travelers to keep their head upright while they are asleep. The Donohue et al. device is designed for children in a car seat and lacks the means for a passenger to adjust the support once it is in place. The Scher device also lacks a means to adjust the support once the passenger is seated and does not provide the contoured pillow to support the back of the head and neck. U.S. Pat. No. 6,748,615 to Tiedemann is representative of a pillow used for travelers and does not provide any head restraint. None of the above inventions, publications and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the invention as claimed.
Ideally, an accessory for travelers should provide added comfort, safety and convenience and yet, would operate reliably and be manufactured at a modest expense. Thus, a need exists for a reliable accessory for travelers which would allow the traveler to sleep comfortably while in a seated upright position without being awakened by the vestibular response which is triggered when a traveler's head falls from side to side or forward and which would keep the traveler's neck in proper alignment.